الجمال الاسترالية وجزاء سنمار

Quote: Impact The increasing numbers of feral camels are a cause for concern as they are the only large browser in Australia. Although camels are considered to be browsers, they have been observed to feed on most of the available plant species in areas where the diet has been examined, including pasture species. Camels damage trees and shrubs when browsing and can severely defoliate preferred trees, shrubs, and vines. They also inhibit recruitment of their preferred food species by suppressing flowering and fruit production and by browsing and killing juvenile plants. Camels have the ability to cause the local extinction of highly preferred species like the quandong (Santalum acuminatum), plumbush (S. lanceolatum), curly pod wattle (Acacia sessiliceps), native apricot (Pittosporum augustifolium), bean tree (Erythrina vespertilio), and Lawrencia species. In 2008, both the quandong and native apricot were observed to have declined dramatically in the Petermann Ranges south-west of Alice Springs relative to the 1970s, attributed to a combination of inappropriate fire regime and camel browsing. Severe damage to desert poplar (Codonocarpus cotinifolius) was also noted. In central Australia, serious and widespread negative impacts on vegetation have been recorded where camels occur at densities of more than two animals/km2 , though damage to highly palatable species occurs at much lower densities. In more arid country near Lake Eyre, significant negative impacts on vegetation have been recorded where camels occur at densities of more than one animals/km2 . Camels already occur at localised densities more than two animals/km2 over much of their current range. The impact of feral camels on native plants and drinkable water is most pronounced during drought, when areas close to remote waterholes become refuges that are critical to the survival of a range of native animals and plants. Feral camels can quickly degrade these areas during a drought to the point where they may no longer provide any refuge for native plants and animals, perhaps leading to the local extinction of these species. The Action Plan for Australian Marsupials and Monotremes recommends that feral camel numbers be reduced at specific areas to help protect the habitat of threatened animals such as the ampurta (Dasycercus hillieri). Many water places are sacred sites to Aboriginal people, so the negative impacts of camels on waterholes, rockholes, soaks and springs can be culturally significant. Recent periods of drought have resulted in feral camels entering remote communities in search of water, and extensively damaging water infrastructure such as laundries, bathrooms, bores, taps and tanks. Feral camels may damage pastoral enterprises through competition with stock for limited forage, and by damage to the property infrastructure — fences, windmills, water troughs, etc. Camels are susceptible to tuberculosis and brucellosis, which are serious diseases of livestock, as well as some other serious stock and human diseases that do not yet occur in Australia. Feral camels may act as a reservoir of infection for any of these diseases. Feral camels have also become a public safety issue — with road, rail and even some air traffic at risk from collisions with wandering camels